Cat confinement doesn’t mean keeping your cat indoors at all times, your cat can still go outside, as long as they remain on your property.

You may want to consider building a cat enclosure so your cat can enjoy being indoors but with access to an outdoor enclosure or run, giving them the choice of where they want to spend their time.

Another option is to fit your property with escape-proof fencing, so that your cat can roam your property without being able to flee. The RSPCA recommends a fence at least two metres high, with rolling cylinders and smooth metal or plastic sheeting on top that make it impossible for cats to get a good grip for climbing.

The easiest and cheapest way is to keep them indoors at all times. You could install cat-proof fly screens so that your cat can benefit from outdoor sights, smells and sounds without escaping. This works best with a new kitten, as the sudden confinement of an older cat used to roaming may cause stress.

There are benefits to both your cat and your community when cats are confined to their properties.

By keeping them confined they won’t be at risk from getting lost, hit by a car or fighting with other cats.

Keeping your cat on your property will address nuisance behaviour from cats and will also be a huge step toward decreasing the impacts that cats have on native wildlife.

Yes it’s about having a variety of toys, scratching posts and climbing spaces available, and regularly playing games with your pet. Use everyday items such as scrunched up newspapers, balls underneath laundry baskets, and bubble blowers. Your cat will also like places to hide that can be as simple as a cardboard box.

The Dog and Cat Board has information about keeping your cat indoors and cat proofing your property.

RSPCA also has information about keeping your cat safe and happy at home.

It's important to be aware of potential hazards inside your home. When introducing your cat to your house, you should make sure that rodent poisons and insecticides, medications, toxic foods like chocolate, onion and garlic, and common plants like lilies are not within reach.

Yes both feral and domestic cats have a significant impact on our native wildlife such as:

Birds such as fairy wrens, wagtails, honeyeaters, robins, cuckoos and firetails.

Ground-dwelling mammals such as bush rats, Ring-tailed possums, Yellowfooted Antechinus, Pygmy Possums, and the Southern Brown Bandicoot.

Amphibians including the Common Eastern Froglet, Marsh Frog, Eastern Pobblebonk, Sleepy Lizards, Blue Tongue Lizards, and Dragon Lizards.

By confining domestic cats it will provide an opportunity to identify and manage feral cat colonies from the environment, further reducing the threats to wildlife and community comfort.

As all cats are required to be microchipped and registered if we find your cat we can scan the microchip and return the cat to you. We can also help you identify ways to prevent future escapes. Confining cats is not about catching cats for one-off incidents or honest mistakes. We are educating and working with cat owners to keep pets safe. However, if your cat is found roaming on a regular basis and causing nuisance you may receive a fine.

To register your cat, visit Dogs and Cats Online, the central database for microchipped and registered dogs and cats, and registration payments. Breeders must also register their animals at Dogs and Cats Online.

• Renewal notice (only if the cat was previously registered)
• An email address
• Your drivers licence
• Any concession cards
• You may need certificates of microchipping or desexing if this wasn’t previously recorded
• Certificates of desexing or microchipping

If you’re entering a new cat into Dogs and Cats Online, you might need to upload a certificate of desexing or microchipping. If you can’t find your certificate, you’ll need to get another to finish your registration.

To get a microchip certificate, visit Pet Address, and enter your microchip number (you’ll find this on any veterinary documents or invoices).

It’s important to keep your cat’s address and details up to date. The correct details means your renewal code will get sent to the right address, you’ll avoid incorrect fines, and your pet won’t be mistaken for a stray if it goes missing!

Visit Dogs and Cats Online to update your details if:

• You’ve changed your address, name, or contact details
• You want to transfer your animal to another owner
• You don’t own a cat anymore
• Your cat dies

Cat registrations are due every year between 1 July and 31 August, no matter when you first registered your pet.

You'll receive your registration renewal in July each year via email, post, or SMS.

Registration fees depend on whether the cat has been desexed and microchipped, and whether you hold any concessions. Fees are determined annually by the Government of South Australia Dog and Cat Management Board.

• Registration is valid until July each year (irrespective of when you last paid your registration). This means if you register your cat in June, you'll still need to pay for registration renewal again in July.
• To get a discount, your cat needs to be both desexed and microchipped. If they’re not old enough to be desexed, you’ll need to pay the full fee.
• Dogs and Cats Online might charge a late fee if you don’t register your dog on time, and we may send you fines as well.
• If your cat dies, you won’t be able to apply for a refund or transfer the registration to another animal.

Your renewal code will be sent to you in July each year by the contact method that you choose when you first registered your cat (this is why it’s important to keep your details updated in your Dogs and Cats Online account).

Dogs and Cats Online will send you a plastic registration tag/disc when your cat is first registered, and this is a lifetime disc. If you need a replacement disc, you can buy one from Dogs and Cats Online for $10. Or if you know your cat’s registration number, you can have this engraved on a metal disc along with your cat’s name and any other contact details.

It’s compulsory for cat owners, breeders, councils, vets, microchip implanters, the RSPCA, the Animal Welfare League, assistance dog organisations and others to give information to the Dogs and Cats Online system. Dogs and Cats Online helps us and other organisations (like the RSPCA) continue to keep animals and communities safe.

For example:

• An officer at the City of Mitcham can update a cat owner’s record to indicate that they’ve paid their annual cat registration fee, and that the cat is now registered.
• An officer at the City of Mitcham can get information from Dogs and Cats Online so they can investigate a breach of the Dog and Cat Management Act and prosecute the offender.
• An RSPCA inspector can get information from Dogs and Cats Online so that they can investigate and prosecute animal cruelty cases and other breaches of the Animal Welfare Act.
• A registered vet and their staff can search Dogs and Cats Online for a cat already in the system. They’ll be able to see the name and phone number of the owner, and then update the cat’s microchipping and de-sexing information.

The Dog and Cat Management Board makes decisions in line with the SA Government Information Privacy Principles about how much information officers can get access to. Dogs and Cats Online incorporates the public register of dog and cat breeders in SA, and not all the information about breeders held within Dogs and Cats Online is accessible to the public.

If you’re not already part of a breeder’s association, you’ll need to register as a breeder at the same time that you register your cat.

It’s your responsibility to control your cat and prevent it from annoying your neighbours. If your neighbours complain, you must stop your cat from entering their premises.

Cats are active animals that love to run, jump and climb and it can be difficult to keep them in your yard if there aren’t enough things to engage and entertain them. Fencing may discourage your cat from leaving your property, and an enclosed 'cat run' will give them something to do. Give your cat a well-turned mulched area to use as an outside toilet or train your cat to use a litter box inside.

We often get complaints about stray and wandering cats, and if cats are coming onto your property, we recommend talking to your neighbour face-to-face to try and fix the problem.

If you are not comfortable approaching your neighbour, the Dear neighbour your cat is causing a disturbance letter can be placed in your neighbours letter box as a first step to resolve the issue.

If you don’t know who the cat belongs to, try these deterrents:

• Squirt the cat with a hose. This won’t harm the cat, and you’ll get the best results when you squirt to the side just above their belly (flank), and not the face.
• Make loud noises to startle the cat.
• Keep the most visited areas consistently wet to deter the cat from digging, defecating, urinating or sunning there.
• Place citrus peel, sprigs of rue (this is a herb), naphthalene flakes, or sprinkle pepper on the problem area until the habit is broken. You can also use cat repellent sprays and gels available from plant nurseries or vets (this will only work if the cat does not like the smell of the product!).
• Place cacti or other prickly plants around the areas where the cat visits.
• Electronic deterrents that emit a high-pitched sound are also available, but these may also deter other wildlife from entering your yard, like birds.
• The final option is to trap the cat. If the cat has identification, you’ll need to release it immediately into the area where it was trapped. As you release the cat, give it a little squirt with the hose to convince it not to return to the area (don’t use a hose at high pressure to do this). You’ll need to take the unidentified (stray) cat to the RSPCA, the Animal Welfare League, or a vet within 12 hours.

For more information, give our community safety officer a call on 1300 133 466.

You can report animal noise complaints here

You can report a dead animal on council land here

You can report a cat attack or harassment here

You can ask us to review an animal fine here